PALAZZETTO BRU ZANESEASON2015 - 2016PRESS kiT

press contactELEVENTENTHS PRClaire Willis +44 7951 600362 claire.willis@eleventenths.co.uk

BrU-Zane.coM

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An editorial in four questions and answers

Cycle Édouard Lalo between folklore and Wagnerism

Cycle Benjamin Godard in the Parisian salons

The Season in Venice

Festival Palazzetto Bru Zane in Paris

Touring Productions

Bru Zane Mediabase

Professional Music Training − Académie Ravel

Books and recordings

OVERViEW AN EDiTORiAL iN FOUR QUESTiONS AND ANSWERSFlorence Alibert managing directorAlexandre Dratwicki scientific directorBaptiste Charroing development director

What is new for the forthcoming 2015-16 season?This season we have decided to create a contrast between two composers whose fame has followed quite distinct paths. In the case of Édouard Lalo, a handful of his works are still to be heard frequently in concert, so the Palazzetto Bru Zane is focusing on introducing other aspects of this composer, especially through his last opera, La Jacquerie. Benjamin Godard, on the other hand, is almost virtually unknown today, hence his output cries out for a complete reappraisal. These composers will become the vedettes of two festivals being organised in Venice in autumn and spring next year. The Festival Palazzetto Bru Zane held in Paris will be broadening its scope for its fourth edition in June 2016, with its opening night seeing Spontini’s Olympie performed in the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées. The festival then returns to the Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord for six concerts, which will present the more intimate genres of chamber music and mélodie. Our partnerships are also being strengthened in other countries: to follow on from Gounod’s Cinq-Mars, the Munich Radio Orchestra and the Palazzetto Bru Zane will be programming a modern revival of Godard’s Dante; the Philharmonic Orchestra will be taking part in the Lalo cycle with the uncommon Violin Concerto Op 20, featuring James Ehnes as soloist. A significant place in our plans will be occupied this season by the training of young musicians, following a new three-year collaboration established with the Académie Internationale de Musique Maurice Ravel. This partnership will enable an in-depth study of rare French repertory to be carried out.

What are the top priorities for the coming season in the field of your research?Since the foundation of the Palazzetto Bru Zane in 2009, we have been amassing a huge amount of information and vast quantities of documents and we think it is important to share all this with music lovers, musicians and the wider public. As a consequence, we have now created an online database, the Bru Zane Mediabase, which, in addition to containing an extensive array of illustrative material, includes summaries of musical figures and compositions, plus scholarly texts arising from our various symposia. The opportunity is also being taken to present the results of various cataloguing and digitization projects in which the Palazzetto Bru Zane is involved; for example, some months ago, the family archives of the violinist Pierre Baillot were placed online in a downloadable format. Work is continuing during the 2015-16 season on other documentary collections and completion of the cataloguing of almost 1700 staging guidebooks for Romantic operas kept in the Bibilothèque Historique de la Ville de Paris. A similar project is being launched this autumn on the holdings of the Leduc/Hamelle/ Choudens/Heugel publishing archives, which were lodged with the Palazzetto Bru Zane a few months back. Finally, work is continuing on infrequently scheduled musical categories (such as the compositions intended for the Prix de Rome competition), together with a future strong emphasis on the opérette and its forgotten composers.

There appears to be an expansion in the range of themed programmes, such as last season’s Au pays où se fait la guerre. What are the principal projects here and with whom are you working?We are delighted this season to be presenting with Les Brigands a new production of Hervé’s Les Chevaliers de la Table ronde, which will immerse audiences in the comical and burlesque world of the opéra bouffe. Absurdity will be stretched to the point of utter madness through the imaginative world of this ‘crazy’ composer, the complicity of Pierre-André Weitz and his staging and a company of singer-actors and musicians all in love with this repertoire. Following on from the première at the Opéra de Bordeaux in November, 35 further dates across France and at the Teatro Malibran in Venice have already been scheduled. This is a particularly diverting way of furthering the Palazzetto Bru Zane’s aim of bringing little known works to a wider audience. Elsewhere, we will once more be joining – along with Hervé Niquet and Le Concert Spirituel – our longstanding partners in the Festival Berlioz and the Château de Versailles Spectacles. On this occasion, through an original programme of sacred music, there will be an opportunity to rediscover – or become acquainted with – Requiem masses from the time of the Bourbon Restoration in France (which followed the fall of Napoleon Bonaparte) composed as tributes to Marie-Antoinette and Louis XVI. The themed programmes, Le Ventre de Paris, Au pays où se fait la guerre and Il était une fois will be either continuing or starting out on their tours. Nor is chamber music being forgotten here with Jean-Efflam Bavouzet making the case for Magnard’s Quintet for Piano and Wind Instruments, and working with the ensemble of soloists, Les Vents Français (Pahud, Meyer, Leleux, Audin, Vlatkovic, Lesage), in a programme of French works for wind instruments. Performances will take place in Paris, Brussels, Munich and Zug.

How are the Palazzetto Bru Zane’s book-CD collections developing?The ‘Opera français’ series, launched in 2012, is soon going to reach its tenth volume with the autumn release of the grand opéra by Félicien David, Herculanum (recorded in March 2014). Winner of a number of awards already, this series of operatic recordings is underpinning its support role in bringing the Palazzetto Bru Zane’s discoveries to public and professionals alike on an international level. The policy of systematically re-cording our operatic productions will be continued during the 2015-16 season with Dante by Godard, Olympie by Spontini and La Jacquerie by Lalo, all destined for forthcoming release in this series. The next volume in the ‘Portraits’ series will be given over to Marie Jaëll, and will include recordings made in the last three years. It is our hope that the musical quality to be found in this book-CD will encourage concert programmers to schedule the more outstanding compositions by this female composer – her piano and cello concertos, in particular. In its own fifth volume, the ‘Prix de Rome’ series will be celebrating the music of Paul Dukas and should spark off much interest, especially with the exciting, unrecorded cantata Sémélé.

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cYcLE EDOUARD LALO BETWEEN FOLkLORE AND WAGNERiSM

A committed quartet player passionate about opera, Édouard Lalo cannot be reduced to his Symphonie espagnole, with its heady folkloric flavours and violin virtuosity. The focus is on a Germanophile with a visionary style rich in contrasts.

Just as Bizet owes his glory to a single work, Carmen, the fame of Lalo to posterity seems definitively tied to his Symphonie espagnole for violin and orchestra (1875), the international success of which has never waned. However, for those of a more inquiring mind, Lalo is also the composer of the opera inspired by Breton legends, Le Roi d’Ys, which was still enjoying a certain popularity in the 1970s. This seems to sum up the reputation of this artist, who combined a revolutionary temperament (which earned him exclusion from official circles) with an overly Germanic style to comply with the rules of French academicism. It would, however, be an injustice to the man and his work to go no further than this simplistic overview. This season the Palazzetto Bru Zane is committed to reviving an important part of his music, with its diverse and often surprising style, aimed at bringing the composer in all his diversity back into favour. The cycle of concerts in Venice will allow his trios, sonatas, quintet and quartet, as well as a substantial selection of the 32 mélodies (now almost unknown) to be rediscovered. Releases of complete recordings of his concertante music and his mélodies will be appearing alongside the revival of his last opera, La Jacquerie, as completed by the very Wagnerian composer Arthur Coquard.

The man in his timeHaving with difficulty broken with his family’s military tradition, Lalo was very quick to reveal his passion for music. He first enrolled in the Lille Conservatoire in 1832, attending the classes of Müller (violin) and Baumann (composition), before departing seven years later for Paris to complete his training under the guidance of Habeneck (violin). From that point on this strong-minded musician never ceased avidly pursuing a difficult career, often on the margins of official recognition. Towards the end of the 1840s he eked out a living by giving classes or playing in the orchestra of the Opéra-Comique. His involvement in the Grande Société Philharmonique in 1850 gave him the chance to meet Berlioz. In 1856 he was one of the founders of the Quatuor Armingaud (for which he wrote his String Quartet, Op 19, in 1859), and then concentrated on mélodie and chamber music. Even with support from leading figures such as Gounod, he did not achieve any relative recognition until the 1870s, when he was involved in the founding of the Société Nationale de Musique (1871). It was then that he composed the greater part of his important works, whose inspiration was to profoundly influence succeeding generations. A close contemporary, also in spirit, of César Franck, he opened the way for the generation of d’Indy, Duparc, Chausson and, later, Vierne.

There is a concern that M. Lalo will remain a modest composer, indifferent to promotion, absorbed in his art and devoted to it with no other aim. Ernest Reyer, Journal des débats, May 13, 1888

chronological landmarks1823: Birth in Lille1839: Moves to Paris1856: Becomes viola player for the Quatuor Armingaud1865: Marries the mezzo-soprano Julie Bernier de Maligny1871: Member of the Société Nationale de Musique1892: Death in Paris

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The question of WagnerismIt is likely that Lalo discovered the modernity of German Romantic music, and Beethoven in particular, through his contacts with the violinist and conductor Habeneck and the virtuoso Baillot. However, whatever the origins of his interest in the Germanic aesthetic may have been, Lalo could not but relate to it, like all composers living in Wagner’s time. Lalo opted for a broad assimilation of German music, looking to Schumann and Mendelssohn for ‘pure’ music (especially their chamber music) and to Wagner for his operas, especially Le Roi d’Ys. However (despite himself?) Lalo remained French in many aspects, as can be shown by the density of his orchestration, which recalls that of César Franck, and the diversity of timbres he skilfully scattered through his ballet Namouna. Because he broke sharply away from Meyerbeer, Ambroise Thomas and the like, Lalo was appreciated mainly by the champions of German music, such as his contemporary Théodore Gouvy (also a composer of mainly instrumental music).

Towards a renewal of instrumental musicAlthough some critics censured Lalo for a somewhat artificial exoticism in his orchestral music – the Symphonie espagnole, the Concerto russe and the Fantaisie norvégienne, furthermore performed for the first time by the celebrated Pablo de Sarasate – all agreed that his violin virtuosity showed perfect mastery of the instrument and at times even visionary moments. Moreover, it is precisely the bravura pieces that have ensured Lalo his place in posterity. Openly referring to Berlioz, Lalo’s astringent orchestration is intended to emphasise the violence of almost all his melodic ideas, whose real ferocity is also found in his chamber music. The final movements of most of his works make use of repetitive, even frenetic, rhythms, in which strings and piano trace broad textures, from immeasurable depths to soaring heights. Such elements intensify the image of a heroic idealist extolling determination and struggle. Even in the smaller genre pieces he composed, principally for violin and piano, Lalo did not hesitate to multiply the contrasts. If a certain poetic lull emerges in his music, it is probably in the slow movements (such as the sublime meditation in the third Piano Trio) and in some of his 32 mélodies, all still waiting to be rediscovered).

Germany is my true musical country.Édouard Lalo

One must carry the frisson of fever into the opera house; let every conversation directly serve the plot,let there be no monotony.Letter from Édouard Lalo to Édouard Blau, May 16, 1889

Lalo’s output in a few dates1850: Publication of the Piano Trio No 11859: First version of the String Quartet1861: Symphony in G minor (revised in 1887)1875: Symphonie espagnole1875: Initial sketches for Le Roi d’Ys1877: Cello Concerto1882: Namouna performed at the Paris Opéra1888: Première of Le Roi d’Ys

Lalo and the operaApart from La Jacquerie, completed after the composer’s death, Lalo’s connection with opera is restricted to two works that had quite different fates, which the composer presented alone, yet both show how important operatic success was for him. His composition of Fiesque was intended for a competition held in 1868 by the administrative director of the Parisian theatres. Coming third in the competition, the opera consequently had no hope of being performed. Nevertheless, Lalo submitted Fiesque for consideration at the same time to the director of the Opéra and to the Theater am Dammtor in Hamburg, but the Prussian invasion of 1870 put paid to these efforts completely. After spending several months in Belgium, the composer finally managed to arouse the interest of the Théâtre de La Monnaie with a view to staging the work in Brussels, but the project was once again unsuccessful, despite being very advanced. Lalo settled for having some excerpts from the opera performed in a number of concerts held in Paris between 1872 and 1877, before dismembering the score in order to make use of large sections of it in his later works. Le Roi d’Ys, which Lalo began work on at the same moment that Fiesque was being set aside (1875-1878), was to have a similar background. The libretto draws on the Breton legend of the city of Ys, capital of the kingdom of Cornwall, supposedly swallowed up in the sea off Douarnenez. After a pre-hearing at the Théâtre Lyrique (1878) and then at the Opéra (1879), the work was cancelled at both, even though excerpts performed by Lalo’s wife, the mezzo-soprano Julie de Marigny in the role of Margared, were given a warm welcome. It was not until 1886 that it was given its first - triumphal - performance at the Opéra-Comique (then the Salle du Châtelet). The opera was translated into all languages and continued to be a success until the 1920s, when it was abruptly abandoned after the First World War. A second triumphal wave (490 Parisian performances) began in 1941. Le Roi d’Ys now continues to regularly reappear in theatre programmes around the world.

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cONcERTS

• september 26 to november 10, 2015 Festival in Venice (Italy)

The cycle of eight concerts organized in the Autumn of 2015 in Venice will provide the opportunity of hearing almost the entirety of Lalo’s chamber works (trios, string quartet, violin and cello sonatas, Fantaisie-Quintette), as well as many of his mélodies.

• December 10, 2015 royal Festival Hall, London (UK)

Violin Concerto, Op 20Philharmonia Orchestra Jérémie Rhorer conductorJames Ehnes violin

If the success of Lalo’s Violin Concerto, Op 20 was in part the result a consequence of the work’s celebrated dedicatee and first performer – Pablo de Sarasate – the work also offers distinctive formal features which distinguish it from traditional concertos of the period: a two-movement structure each one introduced by a slow passage. Lalo is already declaring himself to be the great reformer of the genre.

• From June 26 to august 15, 2015 Festival International du Domaine Forget (Québec)

The Festival International du Domaine Forget is dedicating a cycle of five concerts to Lalo, which will notably provide the opportunity to hear the Rhapsodie norvégienne, the overturefrom Le Roi d’Ys, the violin and cello sonatas, as well as a selection of mélodies.

REcORDiNGS

the complete MélodiesTassis Christoyannis baritoneJeff Cohen pianoAPARTé (2 CD)Release date: October 2015

As varied in their musical colour as in their literary material, the 32 mélodies by Lalo continue to be largely unknown by the public. This box set provides a new complete recording.

the complete concertante works Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de LiègeJean-Jacques Kantorow conductorALPHA CLASSICS (3 CD)Release date: February 2016

Following on from the successive releases of the concertante music of Vieuxtemps and of Saint-Saëns, the Chapelle Musicale Reine Elisabeth is offering – in co-production with the Palazzetto Bru Zane, the Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liège and the Alpha Classics label – a box set containing the complete concertante music by édouard Lalo. This will be the opportunity to rehear the great successes which are the Cello Concerto and the Symphonie espagnole, here performed with gifted young musicians as soloists, but also of discovering other treasures such as the remarkable Piano Concerto and the Concerto russe for violin.

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There is no doubt that Lalo most clearly expressed his interpretation of Wagnerism in the field of opera. While Fiesque (1868) still showed signs of dramatic guesswork, Le Roi d’Ys (1888) may be regarded as a culmination of his theatrical doctrine. On the other hand, still unreleased on disc and unperformed more than a century after its first performance, it is La Jacquerie that now attracts the attention of music lovers and musicologists. It has a simple but effective plot: against the background of a bloody peasant revolt, the young Robert falls in love with the chatelaine Blanche. Out of love for her, he puts himself between the hate-filled people and her father, the local lord, but does not escape with his life. Pursued by his countrymen, Robert is beaten and dies in the arms of his beloved. Although Lalo had mapped out the plan of his opera alone, drafting some of the themes and working it out to the first act, including orchestration, it was his collaborator Arthur Coquard who completed the work, after its gestation had been brought to a halt by Lalo’s unexpected death in April 1892. References to Romantic grand opéra are frequent in the work, especially in its spectacular sets (the final tableau unfolds before a ruined chapel, set in the middle of a forest, with the destroyed feudal castle emerging in the distance). However, with its brief, almost breathless structure (four acts of around twenty minutes apiece), and its vocal style mixing Verdian heroism (in the baritone and mezzo-soprano) and Wagnerian lyricism (in the tenor and soprano), La Jacquerie reconnects to Le Roi d’Ys promoting a concise, effective opera lacking in artifice. This is the exact opposite of the French model imposed by Meyerbeer from the 1830s and still in vogue in the 1880s. The work was successfully performed for the first time in Monte Carlo on 9 March 1895 and revived at the Opéra-Comique on December 23 the same year.

LA JAcQUERiEOpera in four acts, completed by Arthur coquard, to a libretto by Édouard Blau and Simone Arnaud, first performed at the Opéra de Monte-carlo on 9 March 1895.

This opera is modern and its style a very dramatic one, very vivid, full of liveliness. Le Ménestrel, March 17, 1895

FRIDAy JuLy 24, 2015 AT 8PMOPÉRA BERLiOZ MONTPELLiER (FRANcE)*FRIDAy MARCH 11, 2016 AT 8PMAUDiTORiUM OF RADiO FRANcE PARiS (FRANcE)**

ORCHESTRE PHILHARMONIQuE DE RADIO FRANCEPatrick Davin conductorBlanche de Sainte-Croix Véronique GensJeanne Nora GubischRobert Charles Castronovo* / Edgaras Montvidas**Guillaume Boris Pinkhasovich* / Florian Sempey**Le Comte de Sainte-Croix Christophoros Stamboglis* / Alexandre Duhamel**Le Sénéchal Patrick Bolleire* / Julien Véronèse**Le Baron de Savigny Enguerrand de Hys* / Rémy Mathieu ** Co-production Palazzetto Bru Zane / Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France / Festival de Radio France et Montpellier

Recording by Radio France and Palazzetto Bru Zane for the "French Opera" series

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cYcLE BENJAMiN GODARD (1849-1895)iN THE PARiSiAN SALONS Virtuoso violinist and pianist, an elegant mélodiste, the name of Godard today only conjures up his celebrated Berceuse. This is the rediscovery of a ‘composer of his time’, producer of attractive and enticing music.

Benjamin Godard was not only a prolific composer and excellent writer of mélodies, but also a skilled and capable violinist and virtuoso pianist. However, he has left virtually no trace in the history of music, if not with the Berceuse, taken from his opera Jocelyn (1888), a tenor aria that has been rearranged and transcribed so many times that its origins have been virtually forgotten. Yet until the 1970s this piece was as famous as the Méditation from Massenet’s Thaïs or Saint-Saëns’ Le Cygne. If Godard is today little known, it is because he belongs to that school of Romanticism that was neither pioneering (one thinks here of Méhul and Cherubini around 1790) nor revolutionary (Debussy, Fauré and Ravel from 1890 on). A composer perfectly in step with his times, passionate about instrumental music and operas built around noble or historical themes (Le Tasse, Dante, Les Guelfes…), Godard favoured the heartfelt gesture over the reasoning of the mind. From that point of view, his music is immediately accessible and attractive for anyone now endeavouring to rediscover the elegant spirit of the Third Republic. This style, with its tact and moderation, is precisely what the Palazzetto Bru Zane will be highlighting in spring 2016. In Venice it is presenting an overview of Godard’s work (mélodies, quartets, trios, sonatas, piano music), supplemented by revivals in the orchestral field (the Symphony No 2 in B flat major), operatic (Dante in Munich and Paris), as well as the new complete recordings (music for violin and piano) and anthologies (mélodies and music for solo piano).

Teachers and modelsBorn in 1849, a child prodigy on the violin, Benjamin Godard was taught by Richard Hammer and Henri Vieuxtemps before attending the Paris Conservatoire where he studied composition with Henri Reber. He twice failed in the competition for the Prix de Rome but, despite that, played an active role in French musical life at the beginning of the Third Republic. As a distinguished instrumentalist, Godard played in a quartet and his mélodies and piano pieces were a success in the salons. He was also a conductor, and in this role reinvigorated the Concerts Pasdeloup and founded the Société des Concerts Modernes. He was made a professor at the Paris Conservatoire in 1887 and placed in charge of the instrumental ensemble class. His catalogue extending to some 200 works encompasses every genre apart from religious music: six operas including Jocelyn (1888) and the unfinished La Vivandière (1895), which enjoyed considerable posthumous success; numerous orchestral pieces, including many programmatic symphonies (especially the Symphonie légendaire with chorus and the dramatic symphony with soloists and chorus Le Tasse, for which he was awarded the Prix de la Ville de Paris in 1878); a number of concertos, chamber works and an abundance of mélodies and piano pieces. Godard’s style, in the manner of Mendelssohn’s Romantic Classicism, remains traditional, though drawing on highly complementary contemporary inspirations (exoticism, regionalism, revived early music). However, the composer openly affirmed his lack of interest in the Wagnerian style. His career came to a premature end: fragile in health, Godard was forced to leave Paris for Cannes, where he died in 1895 at the age of only 46.

He was a dreamer, possessed of an emotional interior. Eugène de Solenière

chronological landmarks1849: Birth in Paris1863: Enters the Paris Conservatoire1867: Second failure with the Prix de Rome1882: Moves to Villieres-Adam1887: Professor of chamber music at the Conservatoire1889: Chevalier of the Legion d’honneur1895: Death in Cannes

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Godard’s instrumental music in some dates1866: Violin Sonata No 11877: Symphony No 3, ‘Gothique’1875: Piano Concerto No 11883: Piano Trio No 21886: Symphonie légendaire1887: Concerto romantique for violin1887: Cello Sonata1892: String Quartet No 3

Two principle instrumentsRare indeed are the composers who have mastered instruments to the same level of virtuosity as Godard did with the violin and the piano, the two principle instruments of the Romantic century. Consequently, the concerto, the virtuosos’ showpiece, figures significantly in Godard’s output. It was not only the work’s alluring ‘Romantique’ subtitle that gained his Concerto Op 35 a certain renown: following the tradition of the concert ‘brillante’ of the 1830s, the orchestra is subjected to the tyranny of the soloist’s bow that is as vibrant as it is relentless. Conversely, in the First Piano Concerto, the solo part features a subtle orchestral dialogue; such symphonic ambition is also evident in the division into four rather than three movements of a work that strongly merits a return to the concert stage. Violin and piano are thus at the heart of Godard’s plentiful chamber music production, whether wide-ranging sonatas (like the Sonate fantastique for piano), exciting miniatures for soloists, or with other instruments in trios or quartets.

Godard and operaAs a composer who delicately carved out miniatures with his many mélodies, Godard also had a fondness for the grand effect that could be unfurled in large scale operatic works. So the operas are an important aspect of this composer’s personality, who here puts down the watercolourist’s brush in order to paint sweeping frescoes of epic subjects. Although Le Tasse was presented in 1878 (in a competition for oratorios) as a ‘symphonie-dramatique de concert’, the public was not to be fooled and knew to expect to hear an opera, simply shorn of its scenery. In this work, the occasionally Wagnerian style follows the inflections of the text so precisely that narrative and epic aspects lose little by the absence of staging. At the age of 29, Godard was already at his peak with Le Tasse, though Les Guelfes was at a similar level (despite not being performed during the composer’s lifetime), as was Pedro de Zalamea, though neither libretto seems to have been a match for the music composed. Jocelyn remains his greatest success, owing in particular to a lullaby added at a subsequent stage and which became Godard’s swansong. The revolutionary subject then in vogue pandered to the sentimentalism of the historically-based opéras comiques. Dante recalls both Le Tasse, with its Italianising colourings, and Les Guelfes, by its political subject. The first performance at the Opéra-Comique was spoilt by a certain meanness in the scenery that did not do justice to the work, which nonetheless was wide ranging. Dante is full of arias, many of which could easily be great successes today. Finally, La Vivandière, completed by Paul Vidal, returns to the question of the French Revolution (this time focusing on the uprising in the Vendée), and became a jewel in the repertorial crown of the Opéra-Comique before the First World War, although unfortunately Godard did not witness its success.

An academic from outside the institutionsA rapid overview of Godard’s style might suggest that he was a staunch defender of ‘official’ music, that he was a member of all the state music institutions and flaunted the numerous academic medals received since his youth. This was not the case. A long way from academic counterpoint and political obligations, Godard seems to have been affected by secret inspirations, the product of a fully assimilated bourgeois culture. The result was numerous thematic pieces and mélodies able to touch the private sentiments of his audience (Rêve vécu and Solitude for piano or Les Larmes and Veux-tu? for voice and keyboard). Godard also cultivated pictorial colour, both regional (En plein air for violin and piano) and exotic (the Symphonie orientale which, in turn, visits Arabia, China, Greece, Persia and Turkey). He was devoted to traditional genres, but added a touch of poetry to them. unlike, for example, Reber and Gounod, Godard’s symphonic expression could be ‘gothic’ (No 3), ‘oriental’ (No 4), ‘legendary’ (without number) or ‘descriptive’ (his unpublished Fifth). The sonata also became ‘fantastique’ (the first piano sonata), or is hidden behind the genre piece (the Trois Pièces for violin, ‘forming a fifth sonata’). Finally, far from the scientific historicism of those revisiting Bach, such as Boëly, Alkan and then Saint- Saëns, Godard reinterpreted past archaisms with a style accessible to a wide audience (Nouvelles Chansons du vieux temps, the Symphonie gothique and the Suite de danses anciennes et modernes for piano).

Above all, he is badly known and badly understood. Eugène de Solenière

He makes use of the nostalgic vein of an olden day France whilst cultivating the concerto in a knightly fashion. France-Yvonne Bril

Godard’s output in a few dates1878: Le Tasse honoured at the Ville de Paris competition1882: Les Guelfes (premiered posthumously in Rouen in 1902)1884: Pedro de Zalamea performed at the Théâtre d’Anvers1888: Jocelyn put on at La Monnaie in Brussels1890: Dante given at the Opéra-Comique1891: Ruy Blas (unperformed)1895: La Vivandière performed at the Opéra-Comique (as completed by Paul Vidal)

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Born in Florence in 1265, Dante Alighieri was both a poet and a significant political figure who worked actively to maintain the independence of his city in the face of papal ambitions. But he continues to be known mainly for his Divine Comedy, which narrates, by way of a long poetic passage, his journey into the three realms beyond the tomb. Godard’s opera, composed in 1890, skilfully juxtaposes political developments – crowd scenes in Florence and the feud between Guelphs and Ghibellines – and the expression of medieval courtly love. In the opera Gemma, a young girl married to the protagonist out of duty and then abandoned, becomes the close friend of the beloved woman, Beatrice, of whom she is also the secret rival. The most remarkable aspect of this opera, though, is the insertion of a ‘Vision’, a kind of synthesis of the Divine Comedy set to music. Act three thus ranges between an imaginary Hell and Paradise, with sections bearing titles such as Apparition de Virgile, Choeur des Damnés, Tourbillon infernal, Divine Clarté and Apothéose de Béatrice. Godard here appears at the peak of his melodic inspiration and his overall compositional mastery, in a style that swings between Gounod and Massenet. The vocal quintet called for in the opera perfectly captures all the heroic and expressive potential of singers well-versed in Wagner and Verdi. The Palazzetto Bru Zane is presenting Dante in the form of a concert, thereby highlighting its division into sharply contrasted tableaux and a series of dramatic shifts that at times resemble the oratorio form. For this occasion, the Centre de Musique Romantique Française team has created the first modern edition of the orchestral score, working from Godard’s original manuscript.

SuNDAy JANuARy 31, 2016 AT 7PMPRiNZREGENTENTHEATER MUNicH (GERMANY)TuESDAy FEBRuARy 2, 2016 AT 8PMOPÉRA ROYAL DE VERSAiLLES (FRANcE)

MuNICH RADIO ORCHESTRABAVARIAN RADIO CHORuSulf Schirmer conductorDante Edgaras MontvidasBéatrice Véronique GensGemma Rachel FrenkelBardi Jean-François LapointeL’Ombre de Virgile Andrew Foster-Williams L’écolier Sarah Laulan

Production Palazzetto Bru Zane Recording by the Palazzetto Bru Zane for the “French Opera” seriesIn partnership with theMunich Radio Orchestra

DANTEOpera in four acts, to a libretto by édouard Blau, first performed at the Opéra-Comique (Paris) on May 7, 1890

cONcERTS

• From april 9 to May 15, 2016 Festival in Venice This cycle of nine concerts being held in

spring 2016 will present a varied selection of Godard’s works, highlighting his two favoured instruments, the violin and the piano, both of which he mastered to a similar degree of virtuosity. The four sonatas he wrote specifically for violin, as well as the two for piano, are worthy of attention, as they encapsulate the art of the Parisian salons of the time: thematic or programmatic pieces, Germanic inspiration after Beethoven and a melodic line tinged by voice. It is no coincidence that the other genre portrayed so outstandingly by Godard should be the French mélodie, based on contemporary poems and Renaissance sonnets.

• september 20, 2015 studio 1 im Funkhaus, Munich (Germany) Symphony No 2 (excerpts) Trois Morceaux (excerpts) Symphonie gothique (excerpts)

Munich Radio Orchestra David Reiland conductor

REcORDiNGS

Barcarolles, scènes italiennes e Vingt piècesAlessandro Deljavan pianoPIANO CLASSICS (2014)

NEW

the three string QuartetsQuatuor élyséeTIMPANI (2015)

sonate fantastique, promenade en mer, sonata n. 2…Eliane Reyes pianoGRAND PIANO Release date: Autumn 2015

the complete sonatas for Violin and pianoNicolas Dautricourt violin Dana Ciocarlie pianoAPARTé Release date: March 2016

selection of mélodiesTassis Christoyannis baritone Jeff Cohen pianoAPARTé Release date: March 2016

symphony no 2, trois Morceaux, symphonie gothiqueMunich Radio OrchestraDavid Reiland conductor

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SEPTEMBER 26 – NOVEMBER 10 2015Festival Édouard Lalo between folklore and wagnerism

NOVEMBER 2015 – MARcH 2016Concerts in Venice outside the festivals

APRiL 9 – MAY 15 2016Festival Benjamin Godard in the parisian salons

Venice is the nerve centre of the Centre de Musique Romantique Française’s activities. A genuine laboratory of art and experimentation, it is in Venice that unpublished scores are often unearthed. Chamber music, operatic pieces with piano accompaniment or others with unusual ensembles are all offered to inquiring audiences. The Palazzetto Bru Zane team gauges the importance of each work or composer and considers the best way of stimulating its rediscovery on a broader scale. Between September and June the Centre de Musique Romantique Française is organising some thirty concerts and meetings with the artists in Venice. The 2015-16 season will open with a festival dedicated to Édouard Lalo and close with a cycle of Benjamin Godard’s music. In addition to these musical events, about a dozen conferences will allow the public to get to know the many facets of French Romanticism: from historical and artistic contexts to the rediscovery of a musical genre or composer, and from the history of art through to literature. The Romantici in erba programme, aimed at Veneto primary and nursery schools, aims to raise children’s awareness of classical music by means of teaching workshops and concerts specifically designed for them. The Palazzetto Bru Zane also opens its doors to families for Sunday afternoon events. Children from the age of four, accompanied by their parents, can take part in fun workshops and attend a concert. Finally, every Thursday afternoon, free guided visits allow the Palazzetto Bru Zane itself to be rediscovered – a typically Venetian casino and a small gem of late 17th-century architecture.

THuRSDAy SEPTEMBER 17 AT 6PMPALAZZETTO BRU ZANE

FESTIVAL PRESENTATION

Extracts from works by Édouard LALO:Piano Trio no 2, Cello Sonata, Fantaisie norvégienne

SOLOISTS FROM THE CHAPELLE MuSICALE REINE ELISABETHVladyslva Luchenko violinOri Epstein celloNathanaël Gouin piano

SATuRDAy SEPTEMBER 26 AT 8PM ScUOLA GRANDESAN GiOVANNi EVANGELiSTA

AROuND THE PIANO

Édouard LALOPiano Trio No 3 in A minorCello SonataGuitare (for violin and piano)Romance for violin and piano

TRIO DALI

SuNDAy SEPTEMBER 27 AT 5PMPALAZZETTO BRU ZANE

IF My VERSES HAD wINGS…

Mélodies for one and two voices by LALO, FAURÉ, WIDOR,BIZET, CHAUSSON…

Marion Tassou sopranoThomas Dolié baritoneAntoine Palloc piano

TuESDAy OCTOBER 6 AT 8PMPALAZZETTO BRU ZANE

THE ART OF THE MéLODIE

Mélodies by Édouard LALO

Tassis Christoyannis baritoneJeff Cohen piano

TuESDAy OCTOBER 13 AT 8PMPALAZZETTO BRU ZANE

FANTAISIE-QuINTETTE

Édouard LALOFantaisie-QuintetteCésar FRANCKPiano Quintet

SOLOISTS FROM THE CHAPELLE MuSICALE REINE ELISABETHVladyslva Luchenko violinOlga Volkov violinMarie Chilemme violaOri Epstein celloNathanaël Gouin piano

SATuRDAy OCTOBER 17 AT 5PMPALAZZETTO BRU ZANE

THE ROMANTIC VIOLIN

Édouard LALOViolin Sonata, Op 12Romance-Sérénade for violin and pianoArlequin for violin and pianoGabriel PIERNÉViolin Sonata

Diana Tishchenko violinJoachim Carr piano

Award winners from the Prix Palazzetto Bru Zane at the Concours International de Musique de Chambre Lyon 2014

THuRSDAy OCTOBER 29 AT 8PMPALAZZETTO BRU ZANE

TwILIGHT OF ROMANTICISM

Édouard LALOPiano Trio No 1 Ernest CHAUSSONPiano Trio Lili BOULANGERD’un soir triste

TRIO CÉRÈS

THuRSDAy NOVEMBER 5 AT 8PMPALAZZETTO BRU ZANE

PARIS 1900

Édouard LALOString Quartet, Op 45Namouna (serenade arranged for quartet)Gabriel FAURÉString Quartet

QuATuOR HERMÈS

TuESDAy NOVEMBER 10 AT 8PMPALAZZETTO BRU ZANE

ROMANTIC PIANO TRIOS

Édouard LALOPiano Trio No 2Cécile CHAMINADEPiano Trio No 2

TRIO ATOS

SEPTEMBER 26 – NOVEMBER 10 2015FESTiVAL ÉDOUARD LALO

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TuESDAy NOVEMBER 24 AT 8PMPALAZZETTO BRU ZANE

TOwARDS MODERNITy

Théodore DUBOISLe Banc de mousse La Source enchantée(excerpts from the Poèmes sylvestres)Mel BONISÉchoNarcissePaul DUKASSonata per pianoforte

David Violi piano

On the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the birth of Paul Dukas

THuRSDAy DECEMBER 3 AT 8PMPALAZZETTO BRU ZANE

THE ROMANTIC GuITAR

Fernando SORFantasie élégiaque op. 59Antoine DE LHOYERGrande Sonate op. 12Napoléon COSTELe Tournoi(fantaisie chevaleresquepour guitare) op. 15François DE FOSSERecuerdoCinquième FantaisieMatteo CARCASSIAria « Au Clair de la lune » dalle Voitures versées varié op. 7

Luigi Attademo guitar

FRIDAy JANuARy 15 AT 8PMPALAZZETTO BRU ZANE

HOMAGE TO KOECHLIN

Charles KOECHLINLes Heures persanes, Op 65 for solo piano (excerpts)Chansons bretonnes, Op 115 for cello and piano (excerpts)Paysages et Marines for solo piano (excerpt)Cello Sonata, Op 6

Silvia Chiesa celloMaurizio Baglini piano

THuRSDAy FEBRuARy 4 AT 8PMScUOLA GRANDE SAN GiOVANNi EVANGELiSTA

ONCE uPON A TIME…An operatic entertainment created around fairytales from the Romantic era

Arias and duos by MASSENET,OFFENBACH, ISOUARD, SILVER, SERPETTE, LECOCQ, VIARDOT…

Jodie Devos sopranoIsabelle Druet mezzo-sopranoQuATuOR GIARDINI

SuNDAy FEBRuARy 7 AT 3.30PM,TuESDAy FEBRuARy 9, THuRSDAy 11, FRIDAy 12 AT 7PMSATuRDAy FEBRuARy 13 AT 3.30PM

TEATRO MALiBRAN

LES CHEVALIERS DE LA TABLE RONDE

HERVÉ

COMPAGNIA LES BRIGANDSChristophe Grapperonmusical directionPierre-André Weitz stage direction

In partnership with the Fondazione Teatro La Fenice

SATuRDAy 20 FEBRuARy AT 5 PMPALAZZETTO BRU ZANE

THE wIND QuINTET

George ONSLOWWind QuintetPaul TAFFANELWind QuintetJacques IBERTTrois Pièces brèves

KLARTHE QuINTETAward winners of the Prix Palazzetto Bru Zane at the Munich ARD Competition 2014

TuESDAy MARCH 8 AT 8PMPALAZZETTO BRU ZANE

HOMAGE TO MARIE JAËLL

Alfred JAËLL /Felix MENDELSSOHNMarche nuptialeMarie JAËLLLes Beaux Jours (excerpts)Camille SAINT-SAËNSValse nonchalante op. 110Valse gaie op. 139Danse macabre(transcribed by Franz Liszt)Marie JAËLLJours pluvieuxFranz LISZTMephisto Valse n. 3(completed by Marie Jaëll)Mephisto Valse n. 1

Dana Ciocarlie piano

On the occasion of International Women’s Day

NOVEMBER 2015 – MARcH 2016cONcERTS OUTSiDE THE FESTiVALS

THuRSDAy MARCH 31 AT 6PMPALAZZETTO BRU ZANE

FESTIVAL PRESENTATION

Extracts from piano works by Benjamin Godard

David Lively piano

SATuRDAy APRIL 9 AT 8PMScUOLA GRANDE SAN GiOVANNi EVANGELiSTA

GODARD AND THE VOICE

Benjamin GODARDMélodies, arias and duos from the operas

Olivia Doray sopranoCyrille Dubois tenorTristan Raes piano

SuNDAy APRIL 10 AT 5PMPALAZZETTO BRU ZANE

FORGOTTEN STRING QuARTETS

Benjamin GODARDString Quartet No 2, Op 37 Charles GOUNODString Quartet No 2

QuATuOR MOSAÏQuES

THuRSDAy 14 APRIL AT 8PMPALAZZETTO BRU ZANE

GODARD THE VIOLINIST

Benjamin GODARDViolin Sonata No 1Violin Sonata No 2Sonata for Solo Violin No 2Violin Sonata No 4

Nicolas Dautricourt violinDana Ciocarlie piano

TuESDAy APRIL 26 AT 8PMPALAZZETTO BRU ZANE

SCENES FROM ITALy AND BEyOND

Benjamin GODARDBarcarolle, Op 80Barcarolle, Op 105Scènes italiennes, Op 126Vingt Pièces, Op 58

Alessandro Deljavan piano

SATuRDAy APRIL 30 AT 5PMPALAZZETTO BRU ZANE

THE ROMANTIC CELLO

Benjamin GODARDCello SonataRita STROHLTitus et Bérénice

Gary Hoffman celloDavid Selig piano

TuESDAy MAy 3 AT 8PMPALAZZETTO BRU ZANE

GODARD AND THE MéLODIE

Benjamin GODARDMélodies

Tassis Christoyannis baritoneJeff Cohen piano

SATuRDAy MAy 7 AT 5PMPALAZZETTO BRU ZANE

ROMANTICISM AND MODERNITy

Benjamin GODARDPiano Trio No 2Aubade for violin and cello, Op 133Gabriel FAURÉPiano Trio Lili BOULANGERD’un matin de printemps

TRIO TALWEG

THuRSDAy MAy 12 AT 8PMPALAZZETTO BRU ZANE

A DREAM ExPERIENCED

Benjamin GODARDPiano Sonata No 2Trois Pièces, Op 16Nocturne No 3, Op 139Nocturne No 4, Op 150Rêve vécu, Op 140

Eliane Reyes piano

SuNDAy MAy 15 AT 5PMPALAZZETTO BRU ZANE

POESIA

Benjamin GODARDViolin Sonata No 3Ernest CHAUSSONPoèmeBenjamin GODARDBerceuseGabriel FAURÉViolin Sonata No 1

Maria Milstein violinNathalia Milstein piano

FESTiVAL BENJAMiN GODARDAPRiL 9 – MAY 15 2016

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FRIDAy JuNE 3 AT 8PMTHÉÂTRE DES cHAMPS-ÉLYSÉES

OLyMPIE

Gaspare SPONTINI Olympie (concert version)

LE CERCLE DE L’HARMONIEVLAAMS RADIO KOORJérémie Rhorer conductorOlympie Karina GauvinStatira Kate AldrichCassandre Charles CastronovoL’Hiérophante Patrick BolleireAntigone Josef Wagner

Co-production Palazzetto Bru Zane / Théâtre des Champs-Élysées

SATuRDAy JuNE 4AT 8.30PMTHÉÂTRE DES BOUFFES DU NORD

ONCE uPON A TIME…Operatic spectacle around fairytales in the Romantic era

Arias and duos by MASSENET, OFFENBACH, ISOUARD, SILVER, SERPETTE, LECOCQ,VIARDOT…

Jodie Devos sopranoIsabelle Druet mezzo-sopranoQuATuOR GIARDINI

SuNDAy JuNE 5 AT 5PMTHÉÂTRE DES BOUFFES DU NORD

INTROSPECTION

Charles-Valentin ALKANGrande Sonate« Les Quatre Âges »Frédéric CHOPINPolonaisesBenjamin GODARDÉtudes artistiquesFranz LISZTSaint-François de Paulemarchant sur les eaux

Pascal Amoyel piano

MONDAy JuNE 6AT 8.30PMTHÉÂTRE DES BOUFFES DU NORD

INVITATION TO THE VOyAGE

Gabriel FAURÉCinq Mélodies de VeniseGuillaume LEKEUSur une tombe Ronde NocturneReynaldo HAHNOffrande D’une prison L’Heure exquise Fêtes Galantes, libro ICharles KOECHLINMenuet – La Pêche La Lune – L’Hiver Si tu le veuxClaude DEBUSSYFêtes Galantes, libro IIHenri DUPARCL’Invitation au voyage La Vie antérieure Sérénade florentinePhidylé

Marie-Nicole Lemieux contraltoDaniel Blumenthal piano

TuESDAy JuNE 7AT 8.30PMTHÉÂTRE DES BOUFFES DU NORD

IMPASSIONED CELLO

RITA STROHLTitus et BéréniceCAMILLE SAINT-SAËNSCello Sonata No 1CLAUDE DEBUSSYNocturne e ScherzoGABRIEL FAURÉÉlégie

Gary Hoffman celloDavid Selig piano

wEDNESDAy JuNE 8 AT 8.30PMTHÉÂTRE DES BOUFFES DU NORD

RAVEL GENERATION

Works by LALO, SAINT-SAËNS, FAURÉ

Henri Demarquette celloJean-François Heisser piano

Award winners from the Académie Internationale de Musique Maurice Ravel 2015

THuRSDAy JuNE 9AT 8.30PMTHÉÂTRE DES BOUFFES DU NORD

ROMANTIC QuARTET

Benjamin GODARDString Quartet No 2, Op 37Charles GOUNODString Quartet No 2Claude DEBUSSYString Quartet

QuATuOR MOSAÏQuES

FESTiVAL PALAZZETTO BRU ZANE iN PARiS4TH EDiTiON / JUNE 3 – JUNE 9 2016

The concerts from 4 to 9 June are a co-production with C.I.C.T. Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord

OLYMPiE BY GASPARE SPONTiNiTragédie lyrique in three acts, to a libretto by Michel Dieulafoi and Charles Brifaut, first performed at the Académie Royale de Musique (Paris) on December 22, 1819

On rereading Berlioz it is evident that he considered Spontini, after Gluck, the greatest genius of French music in the run up to the Romantic century. And perhaps the little known Olympie, which Spontini staged in 1819, with Rudolphe Kreutzer in person conducting, marked more than one might imagine the real upheaval in opera that would set France on its way towards the modernity of the grand opéra. This score, refined by astonishing instrumentation, is dense from start to finish with spectacular effects that clearly herald Berlioz’s Les Troyens. The presence throughout of a vast choir, the vigour called on for Antigone’s interventions, the pathos of Statira’s role (conceived for Caroline Branchu, then at the peak of her career): everything works to astonish the audience, such that Berlioz himself was brought to tears. This is assuredly one of the first 18th-century examples of the peplum genre.

Olympie by Spontini is a coproduction Palazzetto Bru Zane / Théâtre des Champs-élysées

Co-produced with the C.I.C.T. - Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord and the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées

For the fourth edition of its Parisian festival, the Palazzetto Bru Zane is able to extend its programming following a new partnership entered into with the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées – where Spontini’s tragédie lyrique Olympie (1819) will be performed under the baton of Jérémie Rohrer.The cycle of chamber music concerts and recitals will at the same time be continuing at the Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord, shedding a special light on Hahn, Lekeu, Koechlin and Godard, in conjunction with the cycle which the Palazzetto Bru Zane is dedicating to the composer throughout the spring of 2016. The Palazzetto Bru Zane’s new touring production – Il était une fois… (Once upon a time…) based around fairytales as reinterpreted by the Romantic century – will also be given on this occasion. As before, young talents and established musicians will be combining with the same enthusiasm and making the same artistic demands of themselves and each other.

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TOURiNG PRODUcTiONS

LES CHEVALIERS DE LA TABLE RONDE D'HERVéFirst performance on November 22, 2015 at the Opéra National de Bordeaux

Company Les BrigandsMusical director Christophe GrapperonStage director Pierre-André WeitzAssisted by Victoria DuhamelCostume and set design Pierre-André WeitzAssisted by Mathieu Crescence and Pierre LebonLightning Bertrand Killy

Rodomont, the duke Damien BigourdanSacripant, marshal Antoine PhilippotMerlin, wizard Arnaud MarzoratiMédor, young minstrel Mathias Vidal Totoche, the duchess Ingrid PerrucheAngélique, her stepdaughter Lara NeumannMélusine, sorceress Chantal Santon JefferyFleur-de-Neige Clémentine BourgoinRoland, knight errant Rémy MathieuAmadis des Gaules David GhilardiLancelot du Lac Théophile AlexandreRenaud de Montauban Jérémie DelvertOgier le Danois Pierre Lebon

Transcription for 13 singers and 12 instrumentalists by Thibault Perrine

Associate producer Palazzetto Bru Zane Centre de musique romantique françaiseExecutive producer Compagnie Les BrigandsCo-production Opéra de Reims / Le Centre desBords de Marne – Le Perreux / La Coursive – Scène Nationale La Rochelle With the support of Arcadi Île-de France,SPEDIDAM, ADAMI and DRAC Île-de FranceIn partnership with Angers-Nantes OpéraDecor made by the the Opéra de Reims' workshops

35 concerts

•sunday november 22, Monday 23,Wednesday 25, thursday 26 and Friday 27, 2015Opéra National de Bordeaux Bordeaux (France)With the musicians of the Orchestre National de Bordeaux

•saturday December 5, 2015Opéra de Massy, Massy (France)

•Wednesday December 9, 2015Théâtre La Coupole, Saint-Louis (France)

•Friday December 11, 2015Opéra de Reims, Reims (France)

•sunday December 13, 2015Centre culturel Le Figuier BlancArgenteuil (France)

•thursday December 17, Friday 18, 2015Théâtre Liberté, Toulon (France)

•saturday January 9, sunday 10, tuesday 12, Wednesday 13, thursday 14, 2016Théâtre Graslin, Nantes (France)

•saturday January 16, sunday 17 and tuesday 19, 2016Grand Théâtre, Angers (Francia)

•thursday January 21, Friday 22, 2016Maison de La Culture, Bourges (France)

•tuesday January 26, 2016Palais des Beaux-Arts Charleroi (Belgium)

•thursday January 28, 2016Centre des Bords De MarneLe Perreux-sur-Marne (France)

•saturday January 30, 2016Théâtre, Chelles (France)

•tuesday February 2, Wednesday 3, 2016La Coursive, Scène NationaleLa Rochelle (France)

•sunday February 7, tuesday 9, thursday 11, Friday 12, saturday 13, 2016Teatro Malibran, Venice (Italy)

•Friday March 18, sunday 20, Monday 21,tuesday 22, March, 2016Opéra de Rennes, Rennes (France)

LES cHEVALiERS DE LA TABLE RONDE BY HERVÉOpéra bouffe en three acts, words by Henri Chivot and Alfred Duru. Music by Louis-Auguste-Florimond Ronger, known as Hervé (1825-1892). First performed on November 17, 1866 at the Théâtre des Bouffes-Parisiens. Version for 13 singers and 12 instrumentalists.

Les Chevaliers de la Table ronde (The Knights of the Round table) is the first of Hervé’s great operettas, with which he launched the cycle of his four masterpieces (followed by L’OEil crevé, Chilpéric and Le Petit Faust). Rather than narrating the well-known adventures of Lancelot and Merlin, the opera stages an imaginary world rich with allusions to an enchanted Middle Ages. The lavish presence of an important number of secondary characters (in particular four absurd knights) allowed Hervé to create an ambitious show, capable of competing with certain productions then being put on at the Opéra-Comique. It contains the four main components of the musical comedy: parody (of ‘serious’ genres or foreign music), rhythmic energy, an offbeat virtuosity and popular tunes. The action, transferred to those chivalrous times in a period of French history much loved by the 19th century, gives special importance to the female characters. Mélusine, Totoche and Angélique share the limelight by caricaturing those supposedly typical feminine traits of love, jealousy, greed and sensuality. Alongside them Rodomont, Roland and Merlin present a dulled and softened image of knightly courage.

You consume a hideous number of lagers and ales;If we call you valiant knights,it is not for nothing.Merlin, Les Chevaliers de la Table ronde

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The Palazzetto Bru Zane has now set up a website combining articles, visual images and documents in order to circulate and share in a straightforward manner the results of its research activities and the knowledge accumulated from year to year. Visitors to this site now have access to a wealth of material about the French 19th-century musical heritage, headed by introductory texts on people, compositions and specific topics by music scholars and historians. In addition, more detailed, scholarly articles on the music and artistic life of the Romantic era can be read and downloaded, some of which stem from our own symposia. A virtual journey into the century of Hector Berlioz and Victor Hugo by way of illustrative material and literary texts, drawn from digitised and catalogued archival collections.bruzanemediabase.com

TOPicS AND cONTENTS OF THE BASE

The people This section presents summarised biographies of people who played a role in 19th-century French music: composers and musicians, either still celebrated or lost from the collective memory. Links lead to additional files connected with each musical figure (compositions, specific topics or other documentary material).› More than 270 files ready to be consulted.

The compositions Introductions to compositions in the form of the Palazzetto Bru Zane concert programmes can be found here. The object of these articles is to describe the most important stylistic characteristics of each work within the context of when they were composed and first performed.› More than 350 files already available.

Specific topicsAn inter-disciplinary approach is applied here to specific topics, from instrument manufacture to the organisation of artistic life and the development of vocal and instrumental genres.› More than 60 files available.

Scholarly publications onlineArticles of a scholarly nature as well as symposia proceedings are to be found here, the idea being to provide a quick and international circulation of recent musicological studies. Such articles will be periodically updated by their authors in the light of any new research on the subject

concerned. Here they are presented as isolated articles or gathered together within symposia proceedings or as digital works. They are written in the author’s own language and provided with comprehensive abstracts in French, English and Italian to facilitate rapid understanding of the research conclusions; any such contributions are linked to other relevant notices held in the database (people, compositions, specific topics, etc.). Full downloading of the documents in PDF format and plain-text searches are possible.

As part of the tercentenary celebrations of the Opéra Comique, the proceedings of 14 symposia organised since 2008 in partnership with this institution are in the process of being placed online.

Archival collectionsThe outcomes of cataloguing and digitizing projects led by the Palazzetto Bru Zane since its creation are presented in this section. Three such collections are currently available:

• the Fonds Baillot, derived from archives belonging to the descendants of the violinist and teacher Pierre Baillot. Collection catalogued and digitized in 2014 by the Palazzetto Bru Zane, which gathers together not just documents covering Baillot’s career but also various private papers. The real treasure of the Fonds Baillot is the remarkable manuscript of L’Art du violon (1834) with its numerous sections and additions combined, accompanied by a separate volume entitled Dessins originaux faits selon nature par Gatteaux. Many of these drawings have not been reproduced as part of the definitive edition.

• The Fonds Villa Médicis: visual images forming part of the music collection of the library of the Académie de France in Rome – Villa Médicis, digitized by the Palazzetto Bru Zane between 2010 and 2013.

• The Fonds Palazzetto Bru Zane: the documents in this section are part of the iconographical collection assembled at the time of the programming and scholarly research.

DocumentsThis section gathers contemporary visual documents (posters, stage layouts, official portraits of composers, score dedications, etc.), and librettos for operas, cantatas and oratorios. A substantial cross-section of articles derived from the 19th-century press allows for an in-depth study of certain topics such as the Prix de Rome competition or the reception of operas at the time of their premières.

BRU ZANE MEDiABASEA new digital resource for French Romantic music

TOURiNG PRODUcTiONS

When Louis XVIII was returned to power after the fall of Napoleon in 1815, he restored the magnificence of the earlier monarchy and dedicated a genuine cult to the royals who had been victims of the Revolution. His brother Louis XVI, guillotined in 1793, became the first object of such devotion. Each year one of the leading composers in the kingdom was commissioned to compose a Requiem intended to be sung on the anniversary of the king’s death, January 21. Cherubini’s composition (1815) stands out from all the rest with the quality of its choral writing and the power of its orchestration. In 1822, Louis XVIII added a further symbolic element to this important annual commemoration with the translation of Marie-Antoinette’s heart to the basilica of Saint-Denis, the age-old mausoleum of the kings and queens of France. For this occasion, the official composer of the Chapelle des Tuileries, Charles-Henri Plantade (1764-1839) wrote a Messe de Requiem, whose key of D minor was not chosen merely by chance: it is the same as that of Mozart’s Requiem, which had been such a success in France after its discovery there around 1805. Plantade’s score for choir and orchestra (without soloists) has never been performed since then and may be regarded as one of the greatest tributes by the Bourbons to the Ancien Régime and a model of the Restoration in terms of religious music.

iN MEMORiAMRequiem commemorating Louis XVi and Marie-Antoinette

Daniel-François-Esprit AUBERMarche funèbre composed for the funeral of the Emperor NapoléonCharles-Henri PLANTADEMesse des morts in D minorHector BERLIOZMéditation religieuse (excerpt from Tristia)Luigi CHERUBINIRequiem in C minor CHœuR ET ORCHESTREDu CONCERT SPIRITuELHervé Niquet direction

Production Palazzetto Bru Zane

3 concerts

•saturday august 22, 2015 at 9pmFestival Berlioz (France)

•thursday January 21, Friday 22, 2016 at 8pmChapelle Royale of theChâteau de Versailles (France)

FRENcH MUSic FOR WiNDSLouise FARRENCSextuorGeorge ONSLOWWind QuintetCamille SAINT-SAËNSCaprice sur des airs danois et russesAndré CAPLETQuintet for Piano and WindFrancis POULENCSextet for Piano and Winds

LES VENTS FRANÇAISEmmanuel Pahud flutePaul Meyer clarinetFrançois Leleux oboeGilbert Audin bassonRadovan Vlatkovic hornÉric Le Sage piano

Production Palazzetto Bru Zane

4 concerts

•Wednesday april 13, 2016Kulturzentrum, Bosco Gauting Munich (Germany)

•thursday april 14, 2016 Theater Casino Zug (Switzerland)

•Friday april 15, 2016 Bozar, Bruxelles (Belgium)

•saturday april 16, 2016Philharmonie 2 Paris (France)

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antonio salieri Les Danaïdes - volume 9Les Talens LyriquesChristophe Roussetconductor«French Opera» seriesRelease date: July 2015

Marie Jaëll«Portraits» seriesvolume 3Release date: January 2016

Félicien DavidHerculanum - volume 10Brussels PhilharmonicVlaams Radio KoorHervé Niquet conductor«French Opera» seriesRelease date:September 2015

Lachnith / MozartLes Mystères d’IsisLe Concert SpirituelVlaams Radio KoorDiego Fasolis conductorWith Chantal SantonJeffery, Renata Pokupicand Tassis ChristoyannisProductionPalazzetto Bru ZaneGLOSSATo be released in 2015

paul Dukas«Prix de Rome» series - volume 5Brussels PhilharmonicVlaams Radio KoorHervé Niquet conductor Release date: November 2015

Based in Saint-Jean-de-Luz, the Académie Internationale de Musique Maurice Ravel has for more than 45 years been a renowned institute of instrumental and vocal specialisation for young musicians from all over the world. In order to intensify the particular requirements of performing French Romantic music, in September 2015 the Académie Internationale de Musique Ravel and the Palazzetto Bru Zane will launch a significant partnership aimed at rediscovering and teaching this now largely overlooked area of music. As well as studies in pronunciation and the sense of theatre à la française for singers, and the ‘stylistic school’ concept for instrumentalists, courses, masterclasses and conferences will also provide opportunities for young musicians to perform before audiences. In June 2016 some of them will present the results of their work in Venice and as part of the Festival Palazzetto Bru Zane in Paris at the Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord.

www.academie-ravel.com

BOOkS AND REcORDiNGSPROFESSiONAL MUSic TRAiNiNG − AcADÉMiE RAVEL

•Wednesday June 8, 2016 - 8.30pMFestival Palazzetto Bru Zane in ParisThéâtre des Bouffes du NordParis (France)

Works by Lalo, Saint-Saëns, Fauré Henri Demarquette celloJean-François Heisser pianoAward winners from the Académie Internationale de Musique Maurice Ravel 2015

•saturday June 18, 2016Palazzetto Bru Zane, VeniceArt Night

Carte blanche to the Award winners from the Académie Internationale de Musique Maurice Ravel

the teachers for the september 2015 session are:Singing Mireille Delunsch Violin Régis Pasquier Viola/Chamber music Miguel Da Silva Cello Henri Demarquette Piano Jean-Claude Pennetier Chamber music Jean-François Heisser Guest composer Thierry Escaich

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Palazzetto Bru Zane Centre de musique romantique françaiseSan Polo 2368, 30125 Venice - Italycontact@bru-zane.com

BRU-ZANE.cOMBRUZANEMEDiABASE.cOM

PRAcTicAL iNFORMATiON

tIcKet prIces

Palazzetto Bru ZaneOne category only: 15 euro | 5 euro* Scuola Grande San Giovanni Evangelista One category only: 20 euro | 5 euro*

*students and young people under the age of 28

SEASON TickETSSeason tickets (starting with 3 concerts) may be purchased at any time in the season; holders benefit from a reduction of 25%. For more information about season ticket rates, please visit bru-zane.com or the season’s brochure.

BooKInG

TickET OFFicEPalazzetto Bru ZaneCentre de musique romantique françaiseSan Polo 2368 – 30125 Venice, Italy

From 2.30 p.m. to 5.30 p.m., Monday to Friday. Tickets will also be on sale at the venue from one hour before the performance is due to begin.

ONLiNEbru-zane.comtickets@bru-zane.com vivaticket.it

BY PHONEPalazzetto Bru Zane : + 39 041 52 11 005 Call Center Vivaticket: from Monday to Fridayfrom 2.30 p.m. to 5.30 p.m and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. (closed on Sunday).From Italy: 892 234From abroad: +39 041 27 19 035

GUIDeD VIsIts

A wonderful little gem of Venetian architecture from the end of the 17th century, the Palazzetto Bru Zane is open to the public every Thursday afternoon with guided visits, which are free of charge. Frescoes by Sebastiano Ricci and stuccowork by Abbondio Stazio can be seen in the Casino Zane.

Each Thursday afternoon (except for December 24 and 31, 2015).

OPENiNG HOURS 2.30pm: visit in Italian3.00pm: visit in French3.30pm: visit in English

Groups of visitors numbering more than 10 people are asked to reserve in advance.

iNFORMATiON tickets@bru-zane.com + 39 041 52 11 005

Translation: Mark Wiggins and David Graham